


Cactus Blooms

by ChroChroWritings



Category: Lobotomy Corporation (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Humanoid Sephirot, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:21:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21626521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChroChroWritings/pseuds/ChroChroWritings
Summary: Hod is very close to one of the Plague Doctor's 'Blessed'A 12th employee is chosenGratuitous angst ensues-----So this may end up being a lot longer than I intended oops
Relationships: Hod/Original Character
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Cactus Blooms

**Author's Note:**

> I finished this like two weeks ago and I haven't posted it yet cause the 13 y/o girl in my brain went 'ew cringe'

Along with all the other machinery in the facility Hod's conscious state reactivates at 0600 hours on the dot, the actual workday wouldn't start for another three hours but she had always been the busy bee type. Feeling a now familiar weight shift and press a bit further into her back Hod's eyes slowly fluttered open. Quickly adjusting to the dark she makes out the shape of an agent’s quarters, belonging specifically the agent using her as a teddy bear at the moment. Hod’s still getting used to waking up somewhere that isn’t her office, the comfort of being held like this easing the transition over the last few days and weeks. Feeling time ticking away from her Hod looks back over her shoulder, taking their hand into her own. Rubbing the bare hand with her thumb she gives a contented sigh.

“Good morning dear,” Hod waits for them to move again before raising their hand to her lips, barely grazing the knuckle as a sleep addled groan halts her thoughts for a moment “I have to get going soon” Hod gives a small chuckle when she hears another grumble of protest. Breaking the hold for a moment Hod turns herself over, the agent’s eyes are barely open, awake but could very easily fall back asleep if given the chance. Nonetheless they advert their eyes, cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as Hod gives them a light peck over their gift from the Knight of Despair.

“Can’t you stay just a little bit longer?” They pipe up, as croaky as their freshly woken voice is. They already know what the answer will be, hoping in vain that maybe once, she’ll say yes, I can, but there is no rest for the wicked and every Sephirah and employee has been made a witch of the west. The two of them pout (that is to say Hod does, the agent just has a neutral look of displeasure), as if sharing the same thought. Hod stands up from the bed hastily, clearing her throat.

“See you at clock-in then?” Hod reaches to fiddle with her jacket sleeve to realize that she had taken it off the night before, that had been only the second or third time she had done so for no real reason. She wanted it back on. The agent only makes a vague sound of affirmation as Hod finds the jacket, slipping it on with her back turned to the agent, who is now getting up from the bed themself. When she’s finished doing up the buttons Hod feels a pair of arms snake around her waist and a chin rest on her shoulder.

“Winter dear, I’d love to stay but I-” despite her disheartened tone she has a small, but flustered, smile.

“I _know_ Hod I just,” They trail off as if gathering their courage “can I get a kiss before you go?” despite not being face to face they look away, cheeks tinging a bit pink from asking for such a thing. The giggle of an answer from Hod doesn’t help matters at all.

“Why of course you can love! But I can’t give you one like this you know?” Hardly a moment passes before Hod’s spun around in Winter’s arms like she weighs nothing at all, their lips pressing against her own in an excited, but still very gentle, kiss. The kiss doesn’t last nearly as long as Hod wants it to so she steals another quick peck before straightening her jacket.

“See you in a few hours then dear?” Winter only nods in response, face practically mirroring Hod’s own gooey lovestruck smile. After a few more moments Hod breaks the contact, face flushing just a little bit more, with an almost unheard “I’ll get going then” she leaves them to go through their morning routine as she heads back to her office, almost struggling to get the blush to dissipate on the way.

With a loud sigh Hod pressed her face into her hands, the shift hasn’t even officially started yet and it’s already going downhill. The omnipresent stack of paperwork on her desk was growing ever larger, all from her insisting to cover the work of anyone who died on her watch, clerks included mind you. A couple of her agents were reckless and would be incapacitated for a few hours to a few days, and the ever increasing danger from the abnormalities were just a few of the things weighing her down. Realizing that she can’t get work done while in this state she gets up from her desk and begins to pace, at least the pent up energy would be more manageable then. Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock at her door.

“Come in!” Hod had completely forgotten about the time! Straightening her jacket once more Winter slips into the office, Gold Rush and Crimson Scar always did suit them hadn't it? Opening her arms Winter quickly completes the hug, almost nuzzling their face against hers. Hod could almost melt into their touch like this, snuggling herself just a bit closer. The moment does have to end though, that doesn't stop Hod from sneaking a peck before drawing away.

"So anyway here's today's debriefing," Hod had taken the smallest stack of papers and handed it to Winter "just the same as usual though, mostly just about the newer abnormalities, especially that Plague Doctor one" Winter flips through the pages, scanning for anything actually interesting or relevant before their eyes land on the mountain of papers on Hod's desk.

"I can help you with the paperwork if you'd like?" They knew that it was stressing her out, they hated seeing her upset when they could do something about it.

"Thank you for the offer but we need you on the field today," Hod's smile is awkward at best, hand lightly patting their shoulder. Winter gives a slight shake of their head before Hod continues "besides, I've been wondering about that new gift you got from the Doctor" oh, that one, they think.

"What do you want to know about it? I mean it's just a gift isn't it?" Winter is a bit confused about this line of discussion but if Hod wants to know it must be important right?

"It just seems odd that everyone who works well with it gets the gift, there's got to be a draw back isn't there?" Hod knew that ultimately, nothing here was safe even Zayins like that Plague Doctor were capable of causing death, maybe not on a large scale but death nonetheless. Winter seems to ponder for a moment before answering.

"Other than not letting us back in and it keeps moving around the facility it's just another Zayin Hod," There's a growing tensity in the air between them, Hod wholly unsatisfied with the answer and Winter feeling… would offended be the right word? "The Doctor only wants to do us good darling, it just wants to heal the injured and rid us of disease, is that really so bad?" Their tone had gained a slight sting when they noticed Hod frowning.

"But that's the problem! It's too good to be true! It's, it's--" Hod loses her steam just about as fast as it starts "please Winter I just don't want to see you hurt or worse" she gives them a clinging hug that they don't return. Realizing that Winter wouldn't be having that right now she hesitantly lets go, hands lingering on their arms for a few beats.

"If you value my trust Hod then have faith that the Doctor is at least not a threat, visit it yourself if you have to to see that" this was one of the very few times Winter had ever gotten stern with Hod, holding her in place by the shoulders and staring her down with an uncanny ferocity. Hod couldn't help but shrink under that stare, making an embarrassing squeak to boot. Winter does loosen their grip though.

"Fine. As much as I don't trust this whole situation I'll trust _you_ dear" unconsciously Hod lets a pout slip. Even though the whole ordeal rubs her the wrong way she knows that trust is a two way street, it doesn't really pay to be upset by something that had already happened anyway. She raises one of her hands to place over Winter's in a comforting gesture.

"Thank you darling, I appreciate that" their hold on Hod turned as soft as their smile, the hand the wasn't being held snaking around her waist instead, bringing the two of them just a bit closer. It was already an odd tangle of limbs as Hod takes her free hand to push aside a few stray strands of Winter's hair, carting it through with a gentle touch. A few moments of contented hums.

"So soft" Hod murmurs, she doesn't specify because she doesn't need to, following with a peck on the lips.

"Only for you darling, only for you" and it's true, Hod revels in the fact that she's the only one that can see this warm gooey and unabashedly soft side of them while everyone else only sees the cold and dead pan. She may be selfish for that but it makes every private moment with them all the more special. Hod can't help but stupidly grin as Winter shyly returns the kiss, the both of them having the beginnings of a flush. They spend a few minutes like this, soft touches, soft presses of the lips, and soft words until Hod hesitantly breaks away.

"I'd love for us to stay like this but you really shouldn't be late for your shift dear," though Hod has an almost joking tone anyone who knows her tells well, as Winter had been studying adamantly as of late, would hear the underlying disappointment, they hum, disappointed as well "But I'll see you later?" she has a genuine hopeful smile when they nod.

"You'll stay safe for me, won't you?"

"Of course I will"

It had been a few hours since Hod and Winter had spoken to, much less seen each other. She barely registers the fact when the blare of the trumpet dies down, just another one of the daily ordeals. Huffing as she straightens the documents she'd been working on, even more papers would be waiting for her after today. Trying to ignore the gnawing guilt she starts on the next stack of papers, more reports, documents, and test results, the fact that half of the papers are redacted doesn't make it any easier. Her experience here doesn't make it much easier either. Doesn't make her much better. No better than a rat. With a stunned stare at the sheets in her hands she shakes her head, can't afford to go down the rabbit hole, not now. Sweeping the dirt under the rug of repression she takes a moment to get up and turn on some fine jazz on her record player, sitting back down with her upbeat "I'm a friend, not a boss" smile as she continues chipping away at the never ending pile. Can't think about the bad things if her mind is preoccupied right? 

Another hour or two passes and Hod hears the sound of the meltdown alarm over her music. It startles her for a moment, her core settling down when she realizes that nothing's happened yet at least. Though one of the abnormalities in her department was affected it's only an HE class and the manager had already ordered an agent to work with it, easy for her at least. Still, she should be attentive until the meltdown passes over. Folding her hands the muted tap tap tap of her gloved fingers on gloved hands, the spinning of the long finished record, and the faint hum and buzz of the electricity running through the facility is all that kept her company as she bided her time. 

She felt rather than heard the first gong of the clock, the all encompassing vibration rattling her to the core. It wasn't until the third or forth gong that she realized the force of it had sent her reeling, and until the seventh or eighth to hear an even louder voice behind it. She hadn't been able to discern what the voice was saying, too stunned to process it. The only thing she could sense was the blaring of the trumpet, already at the second stage, and the fact that she couldn't sense Winter anywhere. Fearing the worst Hod stumbled to her feet, making a desperate dash for the door, tears already threatening to spill.

With absolutely no regard for how any other employee might react, or their wellbeing for that matter, Hod begins sprinting somewhere sporadically calling for Winter. Where in the hells would they be? Information? Security? Central Command? It isn't long before she hears the sounds of a suppression taking place in a neighboring corridor, it isn't going well given there's more screams of pain than anything, but it's not Winter so it doesn't matter. Hod makes her way through Information to Central Command, it's the rally point for most coordinated attacks so that'd be her best bet for finding them she thinks. 

Reaching the grandiose department Hod can't help but go slack jawed, death hung heavy in the air as the blood soaked every nook and cranny, staining the normally peachy room as red as the Disciplinary department. Peering over the edge of the railing onto the second floor of the department there was an abnormality she’d never seen before, she couldn’t see much of its body but the wings, 5 pairs of them, were nothing short of massive and imposing,she could hardly make them out against the light the wings gave off but there were two more unfamiliar abnormalities pacing around it, minions?

Hod wasn’t allowed much time to ponder the situation as the sound of an opening doorway and the clicking, or rather thudding, of shoes pierces her thoughts. From the first glance she could tell that the creature was related to the two found below, it absolutely towered over her, easily reaching 14 feet in height. Though every instinct was telling her to run, run away dammit you’re going to die if you don’t, she was frozen to the spot in fear, grief, and guilt.

“Winter?” it’s barely more than a whisper, followed by a cascade of silent tears, though their body had been mangled and distorted, their black matte hair wet with presumably blood was instantly recognizable to her, the small glint of gold from La Luna’s brooch pinned in erasing any doubt much to her despair. It only pauses for a moment, cocking its head as if she had spoken only gibberish. The moment passes and it marches on towards her, dragging a cross with a ruby red blade, resembling a scythe behind it, the weapon silently gliding through the river of red as the thuds march closer to her. Hod could only stare wide-eyed in horror as they came closer, their face had been replaced by a mask like that _damned doctor_ only it was bone bleached white with the exception of the beak which was pitch black as their hair, in the void of the mask a lone eye shone through, red as everything around them, leaving a trail of red smoke as they walked. It marched on, eyes locked on Hod, a hunter with its trapped would-be prize. Hod’s expression morphs from horror to utter grief and heartbreak as she collapsed to her knees, openly sobbing, hiccups punctuating every few breaths. The time it takes to finally reach her is excruciatingly long, it reaches down and grabs her by the hair, standing back up and raising her to its eye level, she hangs limply, only having enough fight left in her to stare back into the abyss.

“Winter, _please_ ” please what? This can’t be true? Don’t do this? This isn’t you? Hod herself isn’t even sure what she’s asking for anymore but she’ll swear that the incoherent mumble and momentary pause were out of recognition. She smiles as more tears stream down her cheeks.

“You’re in there yet aren’t you love?” She doesn’t know which would be worse, Winter being completely gone and their body a grotesque puppet or them being _there_ as they can only watch as their body obeyed only another. It only hisses in response, raising its weapon to strike her down. When she feels the blade press into the soft silicone of her neck, drawing a rivulet of orange fluid from underneath, a serene calm washes over her. Hod only stares longingly into Winter’s eyes as the blade raises to its peak and strikes back down faster than a bullet.

Time seemed to stand still as half of her body fell to the floor with a muted thud, half of one of her arms following suit. It lowered the blade to the ground as it unceremoniously dropped the rest of her body before it continued its march elsewhere.

She could only stare at the ceiling mouth open like a fish drowning on air. Did they miss on purpose? Or did whatever force that was controlling them think she wasn’t worth a second hit? Her mind is growing foggier by the second as the orange fluid free flows out of her severed husk. Her automotive systems are telling her to rest, to shut down, so that _Hod_ can be saved even if she dies here and now. She allows most of her body to do so, on the very slim chance that she even has enough life-fluid in her to keep her core functioning, however she doesn’t allow it to knock her out completely. If she’s going to die she wants her last thoughts to be of the one she loves, not the monster this hell hole turned them into.

Time is a blur for Winter, left nauseated and disoriented as they tumbled out of the shell of their apostle form. The stench of blood and death and ichor overwhelms them as they lay clinging to the floor, they retch, spilling not much more than bile underneath them. It may have been minutes or hours for all they care but the ringing in their ears finally dies off and the stench grows tolerable at least. They try to get up. They fall before they get started, their face now drenched in blood and bile and something else entirely. Best not to think of what it might be. They try again. They fall, again, slipping in the blood. With a frustrated yell they breathe heavily, as much as they hate being in the puddle they need a few more moments before trying to go anywhere.

With a deep breath they carefully push themselves up slow now, using the staff of the scythe they’d been wielding as a support. They’re covered head to toe in gore and filth, both dried and wet. If it weren’t so absurdly long for them now they’d use the scythe as a walking stick, for now though they cling onto the nearby wall. Green. Security. Slowly they make their way down the hall, the sound of the third trumpet drowning out most of their thoughts. Thankfully for them the door is busted open so they don’t have to deal with the hassle of doing that themselves. The elevator ride up to the main room is enough to make them spill their guts again. Again slowly, they make their way into the main room, it’s drenched with blood and littered with the corpses of clerks, as is every room right now really, the few agents in the room, five to be exact, don’t look up from tending the wounds of their colleagues. Whether they were too focused on their task or simply did not hear Winter enter matters not. They simply drop cross-legged onto the floor next to the other agents. A few of them jump.

“So you’re alive?” One of the agents, Winter doesn’t remember who but the armband says they’re from Control, they’re new to the team as well, they nod nonetheless, “a shame really,” Winter frowns, eyebrows furrowed, as some of the other agents look away embarrassed, they did not need this right now, they needed to find Hod “you get to live but my best friend doesn’t? Rot in Hell for all I care” Winter opens their mouth to snap back but another agent interjects first.

“I know you’re upset right now, _we all are_ but that’s too far and not the time for this!” Another person Winter doesn’t recognize that well, frankly, with a few exceptions, they can only recognize the Sephirot and their own team only because they’re the training team captain so that’s no surprise there, the armband says they’re the security team captain. They probably should recognize them then, in another context they’d feel a little tore up at least, now they’re just too exhausted and worried about Hod to care about that.

The agent from Control and the captain from Security bicker back and forth as another agent scoots themself closer to Winter, cleaning off their face with a pink wet rag. Unnecessary but doesn’t go unappreciated.

“Please don’ pay him any mind darlin’, he always was a prickly sort, only go’ close to one other person too, sad story it is” Winter almost flushes at being called ‘darlin’, before realizing that it’s just their accent. Blue armband, Welfare, fits them. Winter nods along absentmindedly, the whole situation feeling unreal. Winter jolts a bit when they realize the welfare agent had paused and was staring at them, from the cocked head they probably asked a question.

“Could you repeat that?” though their expression is still dead pan a certain someone would have been able to hear the slight sheepish tone. She’s not here though. The Welfare agent just shakes their head with an almost motherly smile.

“Was just askin’ how you were feelin’ after all that mess” finished cleaning Winter’s face, or at least as best they could with a half bloodied rag, they start checking for any injuries, rolling up sleeves and pant legs to get a better look. 

“Bad, I’ll heal though” The Welfare agent hums, but not in response, their eyebrows furrowed as they find… nothing. Fearing that the damage is internal they begin pressing on various spots where black damage normally targets. Still nothing. Winter just raises an uncomfortable eyebrow at the frantic touching. 

“How’d you get through that withou’ a single scratch or nothin’?” Winter opens their mouth to respond but the ‘prickly sort’ from earlier beats them to the punch. 

“They were one of the _damned_ things killing us that’s why!” All of the other agents, Winter included, were left with faces of shock to varying degrees.

“You can’t be serious,” one of the other agents piped up, all eyes on them “you really expect us to believe that someone turned into one of those things and was able to turn back?” This just sets off the Control agent, face flushing with hatred and rage.

“If you don’t believe me, then ask them your damn selves!” Stumbling to their feet the Control team agent stomps out of the room, one of the agents, Information and looking far too young to be dealing with any of this, moves to stand up but the Security team captain puts their hand on the other agent’s knee shaking their head. The Information team agent settles back down with a huff.

“So were you? One of those things I mean” The only other agent who hadn’t spoken up yet, Central Command, pointed out the elephant in the room. The remaining agents stared at Winter expectantly, who only pressed a hand to their still very grimey forehead, the building stress culminating into a headache.

“I… I…” The staring was not helping their state in the least. They wish they could say no, or at least that they couldn’t remember, but they do, the desperate look of Hod’s eyes branded into their brain. They had to find her. Now.

“Yes,” Winter answers with as much dignity as they can scrounge up right now, deathly silence spilling over the room, Winter stands up with only a slight sway “I need to find Hod” normally they’d talk about their Sephirah in a much more formal manner but that doesn’t matter now. Without any more words exchanged between the agents Winter leaves, marching to a beat felt only by the guilty.

It takes a bit of time but Winter makes their way back down to Central Command, what catches their eye is the group of employees surrounding a single crumpled up body. Their face pales when they approach the body and spot the orange fluid on the floor that had grown stagnant, orange hair matted and crusted with blood among other things, and blue eyes that lay dull and vacant. They didn’t realize they had made a sound, much less started crying until one of the employees turned around for a moment, the group were in matching black dress pants and black vests, the white sleeves likely being a button down underneath, where the hell were they from? They only have more questions when they realize that they’re welding the pieces of Hod’s body back together, probably setting her up for a transfusion given the odd tank of something nearby.

“Will she be okay?” They ask, voice quiet as if fighting more tears. The strange employees don’t even turn around to answer Winter.

“Her brain, memory, and personality are intact yet, just making her body stable enough to use until we have a new one ready” As a whole it doesn’t make that much sense to them at the moment but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that she’ll be okay. They just wait there silently as the employees finish welding Hod back together, the employees then take an over-sized IV needle from the tank of something and stick it into Hod’s skin, near the heart. 

The IV isn’t anywhere close to done when Hod jerks back into consciousness though, shaking and sobbing as the employees fruitlessly try to calm her down. Winter however takes a few shakey steps forward, dropping by Hod’s side, scooping her up into a desperate hug, being mindful enough to not disturb the IV though. Hod clings onto Winter like a lifeline, shaking harder but breathing more evenly. 

“I just knew that you still had to be in there love” Normally they would've gone beet red as neither of them were affectionate, or even acknowledged their relationship outside of Hod’s office or their quarters, but now they only frown deeply, guilt gnawing at them as she weakly smiles and struggles to cup their cheek.

“Hod I’m so sorry I hu-” a fist in their hair and a stern stare from Hod shuts them up quick, her expression quickly softens though and her grip loosens to cart her hand through their hair.

“Don’t be sorry, you weren’t in control and it wasn’t your fault,” she deeply sighed, relaxing as she takes in the face of the one she almost lost, the ceiling lights framing their hair like a halo “I’m just glad you made it through alright, I don’t know what I’d do without you really” She chuckles but that quickly turns into a cough, and furthermore into ceaseless hacking as the other employees finally pull Winter away from Hod to restabilize her respiratory system. It’s a painful few minutes for Winter to sit there and do nothing while Hod’s hurting so much. Eventually though they get her breathing again, the quiet wheezing sound between each inhale and exhale is more than unsettling to Winter but it’s still better. The employees nod to Winter as they step away from Hod’s body. Winter easily slips back into position. They can already hear her insides working overtime trying to fix this mess.

“That’s not the point!” before Hod can interject they continue “But I’m… I’m just glad you'll be okay too, I’m so sorry” They just cling to her tighter as if scared she’ll disappear if they don’t, Hod pausing from her gentle touches only to wipe away the tears that are trailing down their cheeks, lightly sighing as she takes a sterner voice.

“Winter, you love me right?” They nod fervently, opening their mouth to prove it until Hod puts a finger to their lips, silencing them “Then promise me you’ll stop apologizing for any and everything that’s happened today okay?” She moves the hand back into Winter’s hair, a wordless ‘go ahead’ as she tries to soothe their nerves.

“I… “ Seeing Hod’s face so exhausted but still so loving kills the last of their resistance, “Okay. I promise that I’ll stop apologizing about this if it’ll make you happy Hod” They almost lower themselves to give her a kiss before remembering that they’re not alone, Winter going stiff in an upright position. It garners a giggle from Hod and a chuckle or two from the employees. Both Hod’s and Winter’s face flush a bit. One of the employees breaks the bubble and taps on the IV tube, declaring it fully empty they remove the needle from Hod’s chest.

“Careful with her when you bring her up, what we did was only bide her some time until the new body’s ready, this one is still very fragile,” The employee returns the confused look Winter gives them “What? You want a cot to bring her up in?” They only shake their head as Hod’s face goes a bit pinker. With a silent question of a look to Hod they gently pick her up, bridal style as always. With quick thank yous exchanged with the other employees Winter makes their way, ultimately to their room, Hod would be wanting to rest after this.

Lightly kicking the door open and shut with their foot they step back inside their own room, not even bothering to kick off their shoes yet as they gently set Hod on top of the made bed, wouldn’t pay to disturb her much when they have more blankets to spare. Quickly finding another warm blanket they set it over her, meeting her loving though very tired gaze as she squirms into a position that’s just right. As much as they want to be selfish and stay with Hod they know the facility must be in complete shambles, they don’t make it to the door before Hod calls for them.

“Winter? Can… can you stay with me?” Though she doesn’t say it Winter can tell that she’s scared, reevaluating their priorities they walk closer to the door, much to Hod’s distress. They stop right before the door to remove their boots, soon followed by the outermost layers of their E.G.O. suit, the ones made most filthy. Winter can’t help but smile along with Hod as they crawl under the blanket beside her. 

Hod barely manages a small “I love you” before falling asleep, her machinery slowing down but not to an alarming level. Winter reaches over to give her a light peck on the lips.

“I love you too, sleep well” though they don’t sleep, and wouldn’t until many hours later, when the shift would have ended and everything accounted for, they stay there for Hod, watching over her as she rested, ever her sentinel, her right hand, her most trusted, and her favorite, they decided that they were content with that, placing another kiss in her hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay but since the apostles' whole deal being that they have an exoskeleton why can't we get our employees back after they kill themselves?? 
> 
> I also just wanted some kind of happy ending I'm sorry
> 
> Also!!!! if you can tell where the mystery employees are from then kudos to you <3


End file.
